Murphy joins de-integration drive

摘要

Murphy Oil will become the latest US integrated energy producer to spin off a downstream business, announcing plans to issue shares of a new company that will own its gasoline stations, fuel terminals and ethanol plants. The move follows downstream spinoffs this year by ConocoPhillips and last year by Marathon Oil. Murphy will follow a similar strategy to these peers as an upstream inde- pendent — developing an onshore shale oil business that underpins steady, crude-weighted output growth and investing in potentially high-impact exploration prospects overseas.